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The Evolution of Conversatism
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The American Liberty League is founded to defend conservative values of private property and individual enterprise.
The American Liberty League was an American political organization formed in 1934 by conservative Democrats to oppose the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was active for just two years. Following the landslide re-election of Roosevelt in 1936, it sharply reduced its activities and disbanded in 1940. -
Roosevelt’s attempt to “pack” the Supreme Court causes conservative backlash in Congress.
The only modern attempt to alter the size of the Court occurred in 1937, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt attempted to "pack" the Court by trying to add justices more sympathetic to his political ideals. Between 1935 and 1937, the Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional numerous pieces of Roosevelt's New Deal program that attempted to regulate the national economy. Most of the conservative judges who voted against the New Deal statutes were over the age of seventy. Roosevelt proposed t -
Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected as a moderate Republican
The election of Dwight D. Eisenhower as President in 1952 began eight years of Republican rule. Eisenhower called his approach to government “modern Republicanism.” He accepted the basic outlines of the New Deal and never attempted to dismantle the federal bureaucracy. The federal bureaucracy even expanded, as it did in 1953 with the creation of a Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, headed by Oveta Culp Hobby. -
• Barry Goldwater runs on a conservative platform and loses to LBJ in a landslide.
Johnson also successfully painted his opponent, Republican Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, as a right-wing legislator who wanted to abolish the social welfare programs created in the 1930s (such as Social Security). LBJ advocated more such programs, and after 1965, instituted three: Medicare, Medicaid, and the War on Poverty. With these factors working for him, Johnson easily won the Presidency, carrying 44 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. -
The Supreme Court angers social conservatives with its decision to legalize abortion in Roe v. Wade.
The sexual revolution was another source of conservative concern. The use of the new birth control pill encouraged promiscuity, critics said. Also, after the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade legalized abortion, anti-abortion forces launched a campaign to overturn that decision. The movement for gay and lesbian rights further angered many conservative Americans. -
Conservative Republicans sweep the historic 1980 election
The growing strength of conservatives in the Republican Party gave Ronald Reagan the GOP presidential nomination in 1980. During the campaign, Reagan seized on growing discontent. His attacks on incumbent Jimmy Carter's handling of the economy were particularly effective. Criticizing Carter's economic record, he poked fun at the President's use of technical language,
